Eleven days. Eleven days it took, for me to become
vampire. The beating had revived old nightmares
and I only wished to die. I'd shaken my head and
muttered "no" through lips so bloodied and swollen
it was difficult to say the word. He'd asked me if
I wanted to live. I said no. He asked me if I
wanted to be strong and live forever. I said no
again, with difficulty. "Wrong answer," he
whispered and cut into my wrists.

* * *

In the beginning, the One created the Three. Only
the One was more powerful than the Three. They were
named Wisdom, Strength and Love. Those Three are
more commonly known as the Mighty Mind, the Mighty
Hand and the Mighty Heart.

Others were made, then, with varying degrees of
power, who served under the One and the Three. The
worlds were made, both Light and Dark, and those
worlds were populated with all manner of races and
creatures.

One day, the One and the Three discovered that a
blight had infected their ranks. Some at many levels
of power had banded together and turned against
them, seeking to destroy what had been created. The
Three were given the task of pursuing the rogues and
finding a way to either turn them back to the light
or eliminate them. The Three began to choose their
armies carefully, as their duty was to seek out and
right many wrongs in their pursuit of such pervasive
evil.

"Belen?" I blinked up at him. As usual, he was
shining brightly, although he'd dampened it so I
might look at him.

"Lissa, this is certainly the beginning." He
gazed around us. At leveled homes and devastated
bodies.

I understood what he said. All too clearly. It had
been my suspicion, but I was too afraid to voice
it aloud, as if saying it might make it real. It
didn't need my words to make it real. It had
already become real. The God Wars were upon us.
"It'll only get worse, won't it?" I whispered.

"If this is not stopped," Belen lowered his head
as if in thought. "Either the opposing forces know
something we don't, or evidence we do not have
indicates that the Three are now revealed."

"You don't know who all Three are, do you?" I
shivered.

"We know of the Mighty Hand—he has revealed
himself to us, but he has placed himself behind a
shield only the strongest might breach, and to my
knowledge only the One might get past Strength's
barrier. One other we have both felt," he nodded
slightly to me. Neither of us was willing to speak
Breanne's name aloud. She was in enough danger, I
think, and I didn't want to add to that.

"The other I cannot say, although we have seen
evidence," Belen sighed. He hesitated for a
moment, as if he wanted to say something else and
then thought better of it.

"I am afraid to say what I might think about
this," Belen murmured instead. "It worries me that
even the quietest voice might be heard if I speak
my suspicions about this. Lissa, there's something
you do not know," Belen continued.

"What's that?"

"I only removed the mind cloud from your son. The
others—it had already been removed when I arrived
to do it."

"Someone quite powerful arrived before I did. I
believe Gavin and Cheedas
benefited from a visit
from one of the others. At this time, I cannot
say—am afraid to say—which it might have been."

"I don't understand this," I rubbed my forehead.

"Lissa, do not make yourself ill, I beg," Belen
knelt next to me. "We must be strong and vigilant
in the coming days. It is up to us to do what we
can to protect innocents during these times. As
much as we can, for as long as we can. We cannot
say if our enemies are destroying these lives,
attempting to draw one or more of the Three out.
After all, if one of them falls or turns to the
other side, all will be lost. More than one
destroyed will only hasten our demise."

"This is the flaw, isn't it?" I sighed.

"Yes. This is the flaw," he agreed.

* * *

Those among the powerful know the God Wars have
begun—except for Breanne. Without suspecting what
she really is or that she has been targeted, she has
chosen a new home for herself—in Earth's past. When
strange events begin to happen around her, Breanne's
confusion ramps up considerably. Toss in a handsome
stranger and a horrible past, and Breanne seems
headed for destruction.

"Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean
it can't exist," I pointed out. "You just haven't
been in the right place or time before."

"Being in the right place and time with Sirenali
sounds crazy and scary as hell," Jayson breathed.
"Why can't it be some of those short, friendly
guys?"

"There are short, friendly guys, but they don't
have any desire to invade somebody else's planet,"
I said, thinking of the Amterean Dwarves. The only
thing they might want to invade was Earth's
libraries and information systems. Information was
more valuable than precious metals on Amterea.

Earth has been invaded, and those who have made a
difference throughout time are targeted. The enemy's
goal? Change things in their favor. The General and
his servants still have hopes of finding the Mighty,
and luring at least one of them into a trap. Will
Love, Strength and Wisdom survive, as they struggle
to save those who are important to their cause? Only
time will tell.

"It's possible," Ashe said, rubbing his forehead.
He hadn't had a headache this bad in almost a
decade. He'd had this one for four days.

"She may not want to stay here if she wakes up,"
Trajan sounded troubled.

"I know. Sometimes I want to kick my own ass over
that."

"I'll do it for you."

"Look, you're still the better fighter, so no,
thanks," Ashe held up a hand.

* * *

The rogue gods, sure that the Mighty Heart is dead,
have stepped up their game.

Bill, Hank and the others are concentrating on
tracking a human known to have ties with the
rogues—Vernon Clark.

Vernon has manipulated many things in the past from
his website. He was the first to claim that Breanne
was a lie created by Rome Enterprises to destroy
Joyce Christian's reputation after her death. He has
many nefarious contacts, and not just with rogue
gods and Sirenali.

Hoping to get information and locations on the enemy
from their quarry, Bill and his team travel to New
Mexico, where Vernon Clark was last seen. Their
search for the enemy then leads to other states,
where things are beginning to heat up.

Wildrif, the quarter-blood Elemaiyan seer, has
become an unreliable source of information as he
can't see past shields surrounding Bill's group, so
Acrimus and Calhoun bring in another seer—one so
dangerous even those who resurrect him fail to
understand their peril.

"We have won, brother. The Three are
no more and those who remain have clearly reached
a stalemate in combatting the General and his
army. All that is left for us to do is take
everything and let chaos rule. I only wait for
Calhoun to return so we might continue our search
for Kiarra. A promise was made to us and I will
see it fulfilled."